Rav Kook: The Shabbat Splendor By Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

and uh it's wonderful to be together and to learn together this morning as uh we are celebrating the seventh day of Kaneka and uh really just a few hours away five hours or so until the uh the lighting of the eth night of kanaka which is always very very beautiful very meaningful as we see the all laid Lights of the kukia the minura and uh what I'd like to speak about today is uh one of the great lights of uh of our tradition and that of course is riten cook and one of the great lights in terms of our mitzvot is the Mitzvah of chabas and uh what I'd like to look at today is the perspective and uh some of the novel ideas that Ru cook brings to our celebration of chabas hopefully something that is Meaningful uh for us practically how to uh how to bring greater richness to our shabas experience so let's begin with the following the following Source from rev cook we're going to read a uh a sentence from ruk where does ruk speak about chabas so there is a safer that ruk wrote called Shabbat you see that on page one this is a book that's about shmita that's about the sabatical year but one of the things that he does and we'll see that in a moment in the introduction is that he speaks about chabas the weekly chabas and how that relates to the Shabbat the shmita that we have every seven years but we're focusing on shabas itself and here ruk writes the following and let's begin we always like to see the the language of ruk we'll see uh we'll look at a first sentence in Hebrew then just for the sake of time and um to move things along we'll look at look at his uh the interpretation English at the very top of page one the very nature of the Nish the soul the Jewish people shess Isel who El our soul is a Godly soul that we as a Jewish people it may be true of all people but especially the Jewish people that we have a soul each of us all of am Israel every Jew has a soul that is a spark of the Divine we have a Divine spark within us it's not something that we have chosen our it's not because of anything that we have done any action per se and it's not because we have necessarily chosen a path of righteousness or of yoser so how is it that we have this this soul that is a Godly Soul says Rook it's at the core of our very nature it's the very quality of a Jew hag in a physical sense and in a spiritual sense that we have a particular strength we have a Valor we have this quality of godliness within us okay so that's how Ru cook begins that's how we're going to begin the godliness that is within us how does that relate to shabbat so now let's go to the English translation and uh we're going to go right to the middle of the page where it says this National Treasure we're on page one and this is a translation now of Riv cook this national treasure that is imprinted deep within us the image of a world that is good upright and godly aligned with peace Justice Grace and courage all filled with pervasive Divine perspective that rests in the spirit of the people cannot be actualized within a way of life that is purely secular without being attached to the holy Holiness and he's going to speak about the holiness of Shabbat we're not able to nurture that soul that godliness within us such a life full of frenetic action veils the glory of our divine soul and the Soul's clear light is blocked from shining through the overpowering mundane reality the mundane reality that's every week day in and day out we uh we're paying our bills we're checking our emails we're responding to Whatsapp we're looking at Facebook whatever we do during the week but it fills us and it kind of overwhelms us it's overpowering the impulse towards growth and self-realization needs space to come to fruition we need a space for our soul to be able to be nurtured and to grow we need to stop and shake off the bedum of our daily lives interesting he's talking the early 1900s the bedum of daily life I think we we're we're in a a hyper bedum of daily life in uh in our day it is very true it is very true for the moment that people wake up in the morning we're already checking our phones we're checking all day long messages coming in phone calls that need to be made and our lives are very much bedum so in that Riv cook says it's difficult for us we have this soul and a soul is Godly Soul within us that's just yearning for spirituality that's yearning for closeness with God and sometimes that's not something that we can easily connect with during the week so sayra cook we're going to read one more paragraph here in the English below final paragraph on the page the individual shakes off mundane routine frequently every week that's what we do every week Shabbat comes and so does rest the soul begins to shed her harsh chains the Lord has given you rest from your sorrow and trouble and from the hard service that you were made to serve the soul then seeks higher Pathways of spiritual desire that are consonant with the nature of her of her source and I make the following comment I think for many people when we think about Shabbat we think about it as a day of rest in other words all of the The Hectic activity during the week that we need to rest from that that is true it's called the Yum Manuka but ruuk is emphasizing something else about the Shabbat and that is the soul needs to be nurtured the soul needs to grow the soul yearns for a closeness with God for spirituality when does that happen that happens on Shabbat it's not just a day of rest from all of the the the uh the harried life of the week it's the soul that is yearning for that experience that's just waiting week in and week out to be in the presence of God to feel the to be raised to be nurtured to grow reading on now in the words of R cook it is good to praise the Lord to sing hymns to your name oh most high to Proclaim your steadfast love at Daybreak your faithfulness each night with a ten string harp with voice and liar together it shall be sign for all time between me and the people of Israel this is a holy day when the innate inclination of the people for a Godly life emerges from its hiddenness in other words this is innate to a Jew to the Jewish people and to all of us a yearning for godliness and spirituality it is a sign for the people that its sole treasure contains within it the need and the ability to rejoice in God in the light of the Divine and the last sentence of this paragraph This is concentrated in the point of the extra soul that dwells within each one of the people's Children of the people's children yes what is the extra soul that is the Nish and what does it mean this extra soul that we have one way of interpreting you could say extra Soul or a soul that's an expansive soul and we want to expand that Soul we want a soul that feels connected to Hashem that feels connected to Godliness so that is that's the opening opening idea from ruk about Shabbat what is Shabbat all about Shabbat is a day in which we are anticipating we are waiting for our souls are waiting for that experience of spirituality to connect with godliness to connect there's Godly there's spirituality connecting with family with friends with study with study of Torah that is the Shabbat okay and therefore we can turn out to page two ruk suggests that there is chuva which one should do right before Shabbat begins I don't know if anybody has thought about that idea I don't know if I have ever thought about that idea but he writes the following this is page two left side of the page where it says number one this is from his work shabbes as Shabbat is coming in a person should be engaged in chva everything that transpired during the past week in order to receive that there should not be any impediment to our accepting of in other words we need to put aside everything from the previous week in order to bring in chabas and to experience chabas the way that our soul wants to experience Shabbat and that by the way is part of the what the ala has in mind right put everything away put the cell phones away put the computers away even in in terms of your thought right to put away all of the those responsibilities and some of the some of the things that are weighing us down from the week all of that put that aside as Shabbat enters there's a little moment says of Chu as we're entering Shabbat put it all aside and enter Shabbat so that you can Embrace Shabbat you could receive the Holiness of Shabbat properly maybe that's why we have cabala shabas in other words we add to our daving on Friday night that there's an opport Unity that we say the Psalms that that we're bringing in chabas not the regular way during the week of just Mar some people go to the Mikvah before chabas the others as well that go to the Mikvah right before chabas it's a way of cleansing oneself from the weak so that chabas the the spirituality of chabas can be received properly yes please is it a being yeah I'm not sure I'm not sure if we would say it's a being it's a there's a godl within us there's a spark of God within us there's a but it's it's a good question that's a I would say that's a uh that's another another discussion or another class of what that means Nish right how to define that exactly but I think simply for us and I think even intuitively um we would all agree that it represents a spiritual yearning that we have a godliness that's that's within us and R cook says that was the opening where we started that the Nisha of a Jew the Nish of the Jewish people is one that's filled with godliness we are yearning for that we want to connect with that we want to feel that godliness chabas is a day for that okay so that's how we are to enter chabas R cook is now going to talk about another aspect of chabas through a story that were about to see quite an amazing story in the gamarra where one is not only to experience shabas on chabas but the way that we carry chabas with us for the rest of the week as well so there's a there's the following gamarra which is found in chavas 33b it's a well-known gamar it's about shim soai together with his son they run into a cave they run and hide from the Romans and during that time they spend many many years in the cave they are studying together they're in hiding but they're also studying the secrets of the Torah together at that time and some say based on that we have teachings of the Zohar based on the teachings that they shared with one another some point out that LBA om is a celebration of rashai as he finally makes his way outside of the Cave the story this is the story in the gamarra they're in the cave they make their way out this is raai and his son Rabbi Alazar they make their way out of the cave they come out of the cave and what do they do when they come out of the cave says thear they see people that are working they see people that are farming and they burn them up they burn those people up right with their eyes question is what that means I don't know if it means literally that they burn them up but it seems to mean that they're somewhat impatient with the fact that they can't understand how is it that a person has the opportunity to live such a spiritual life this intense spiritual life and how is that people are just kind of spending their day doing all this other stuff you're watching TV you're you're watching videos you're taking buses you're going to work how can you be doing that when there's all this spirituality and godliness that you have the opportunity to be engaged and they just can't they they can't understand that and not only do they not understand it that they're ready to burn up you know that that kind that world so to speak what does God say God says well I'd like you now to re-enter the cave that's not the way that I want you to interact with this world that's not the view that's not the correct Viewpoint go inside the cave again right go to your room and think this over so that's what they do they go to their room they think it over and when you're ready to come out of your room and you know you can come down so that's what Hashem says so they come out a second time and um it seems that his son rashm son is still burning people up he hasn't quite learned the lesson then heals everyone who has been burnt but then the following incident happens and with this incident they then they then realize they then recognize that there is that that everyone is okay that the Jewish people are are are a holy people so here we're going to read the following this the gamarra and we're going to see a very interesting Insight of ruk so this is page two the gamar is on the right side we're going to go to the third paragraph and it says the gar continues if you see that it's the last paragraph in that section on page two it was the night as night began to fall late Friday afternoon this is where they're they've just come out of the cave a second time they saw an elderly man he was holding two bundles of myrtles asmos and he was running at B asmos at Twilight right before chabas so AMU L they said to him this isim and his son why do you have these myrtles in your hand am he said to he said to them chabas I'm carrying these chabas in honor of chabas the isn't it enough just to have one of them why do you need two bundles so he ansers one bundle is symbolic of Z the other bundle is symbolic of shamur like the Torah says in the Ten Commandments in one place it's zat in the other place it's sh like we say in said both in a single utterance so then said to his son we see how precious are mitzvot to the Jewish people that is the gamar now the question is what is going on here it's a very very strange they come out they see this man running he's holding two bundles in his hand and he says one is shamur one is Zur and with that they are assuaged assuaged at that moment they they kind of see how how beautiful the Jewish people are how much they love mitzvot okay what what what what's happened here what's going on here so this is rook's explanation of uh of this agad and we'll read let's read a few lines in Riv cook we like to read Riv cook Anaya this is his commentary he wrote a commentary on Bros and chabas so we're lucky that we have his commentary here this is again chabas Lam gim 33b and he writes the following there are two powers or two particular strengths that chabas has within it shabas raises up the Jewish people to a very high place spiritually it lifts them up from all of the mundane week and it attaches himid it attaches the Jew to a very holy place to a very high level of kadha so that's one thing that happens at chabas what does shabas do and this is what we said earlier shabas is that day that the soul of a Jew connects with godliness with spirituality it raises us up we're just waiting for that opportunity all week long to be raised out of the mundane week and to feel the spirituality that we're all yearning for that's chabas that's one aspect of chabas but there's another aspect of but in addition to that but it also has an influence and impact on the rest of the week as well there is Hess to the weak the mundane the profane aspect of weekday life and sh there's a loneliness of the weekday events as well but as the week is attached and the way that we attach the weekday to shabas we also raise up the weekday as well and without even noticing it per se that the nees is raised even during the weekday by remembering the Shabbat now interesting the Torah says two words about Shabbat sh Z you are to remember the Shabbat you are to shamur you are to guard the Shabbat watch over the Shabbat so what does it mean to watch over the Shabbat Shamar to guard guard the Shabbat so that's the first interpretation that the Shabbat itself needs to be watched it me needs to be guarded so that we get the most out of Shabbat but what does it mean z Shabbat to remember Shabbat does it mean to remember on the day of Shabbat that's one way of interpreting it but here ruk is suggesting that zahur means what that we remember it all week long in other words that it has and that's why the Torah goes out of its way to say shamur make sure your Shabbat is guarded guard it make sure that you fill it with davening and you fill it withed and with good meals with people and a day of learning guard the Shabbat make sure those 24 hours right don't deor don't talk about your bills don't talk about your schedule for the coming week don't start hacking on chabas for what you're doing after chabas guard that day guard that day and make sure that Shabbat is filled with Holiness because as R cook says you're you need it and you're waiting for it and your soul desires it so make sure to guarded make sure your Shabbat even the debor around the table make sure you're talking things that are appropriate for Shabbat so make sure guard that day but but then God Says Z Shabbat what do you mean remember Shabbat isn't that that's the shamur well Zur says R means to remember it all week long right the way that Shabbat the way that you experience Shabbat is something that can spill over into the rest of the week and let's yeah please you're right we do say abdalah at the end of chabas yes that's true so there is a distinction and we do need to go into the week however we also need to take from the spirituality of Shabbat it doesn't end there we'll talk about that in a moment interesting so no it's a good point on the one hand and we'll see a story in a moment that addresses that on the one hand havah there is the separation we do need to go into the week God does want us six days we are we we should be doing this we got to sit with a cup of coffee and learn and get here and do all the things that's part of the week but we also need to bring that spirituality of chabas into the weekday as well so let's let's just read on in the words of if we take the Holiness of Shabbat into the week then the weekdays are not lowly even though on the outside it may look like they're just mundane you know days of the week that's not true if you bring that Holiness of Shabbat that spirituality of Shabbat into the week as well okay so R cook now is going to address the story itself the particulars in the story what happened the story this they saw this old man he was running he was running right in the Twilight hour right before Shabbat and he was holding these myrtles in his hand now what what is that Rook says goes all hint to different aspects of of the Shabbat in this teaching let's read this last paragraph on the page this is page two on the bottom we haven't turned the page yet so Ben showed why does thear say they saw a man that was running bmot what does bmot mean that's the Twilight right that's where it's beginning to get dark but it's not dark yet it's weekday but it's not yet chabas right the Stars haven't come out yet I mean where makid once is B that we no longer do because it's the possibility that it's already shabas so what's writes who that's this is the we're reading right now the very last paragraph on page two these are the words of that's the transition it moves from the past to the Future eles it's the place where there's a connection between and KES so what does it mean it means that there is a connection between chabas and the rest of the week that there's an impact that there's an influence of shabas there's an influence of chabas of that Holiness on the rest of the week as well that's why the gamar says that it happened BM meaning that chabas there's a little bit of chabas in BOS there's a little bit of in BOS there is a mixture it doesn't end havdalah doesn't quite end chabas it continues on by the way how long can you make havdalah interesting you're talking about AB till Tuesday so till Tuesday and what does that mean what does that reflect what does the Ala say I thought chabas ended Saturday night what do you mean M what do you mean I could still be saying abdalah on Tuesday what does that seem to suggest that there's some shabas that's still there if I could still say abdalah it means there's some some little bit some trace of shabas that's still there when do we begin by the way when do we begin in our daving and we have she shal that we say every day when do we begin talking about chabas that's right on Wednesday morning what do we say I don't know if you're familiar with that the that we say at the very end by Wednesday morning we're already thinking about chabas so here we are Tuesday abdalah Wednesday we're already anticipating so we see even the Ala this idea how does shabas how do we bring some of that spirituality of ch into the week that Holiness of chabas into the week that's what Rook says is what's going on here yes please yes yeah okay good good no that's a nice that's yeah beautiful it doesn't affect the zor beautiful beautiful well done well done like people that like ah there people a light candles well I would and your point is well taken what chabas is over what do we do there's a Mitzvah that relates to chabas right after chabas what is that malava Mala malava Mala means we're escorting out the king of chabas or the queen we're escorting the chabas well that means that chabas is not quite over sha I thought chabas was over what do you mean that we're still being malav the chabas so chabas is still there so yes so we see that even in halaka and in our practice that we have the sense that chabas is something that that we are to bring into the weak that we're supposed to feel the spirituality of sh yes there's but what is it and we'll see this in in a moment what is it that we've gained from chabas in what way have we grown from shabas what have we've realized on chabas that we want to bring that into the week as well okay so let's just read the just the last line here a uh three lines up four lines up in this last paragraph even though it looks to the naked eye that the weekday is just it's filled with gash and that it's that it's lowly that it's very mundane it's profane we call it means you have KES means that it doesn't have even though it appears that way that there is if you look a little bit deeper if you look inside even the weekday you need to evaluate it very carefully if you sense it the fragrance that you can pick up even from the weekday you can sense even in the weekday the kadha of chabas as well and he says that's what's represented by the what was he holding in his hands he was holding the myrtles right the fragrance of the myrtles in his hand so those myrtles represent that even during the week that there's the fragrance of chabas okay we don't have The KES of chabas we don't have the kala we don't have all the AL of chabas but we're taking some of the fragrance right some of the the um what's found inside the chabas right the very essence of chabas that we bring that into the week as well okay now now what does that mean exactly how do we understand that so let's look at the following and it really is a question how do we bring the spirituality of chabas into into the week so here of cook says let's begin this is page three on the right side of the page and this is from orot cha and he says on Mo shabas we need to do the following what do you do Mo shabas you do the dishes right after shab what do you do you go to a movie you order pizza so this is let's see what Rook says you should do right after chabas so this is oroa this is so he says it's another time for CH he's a lot of time a lot we have to do chuva a lot according to R cook as chabas enters it's a moment of chuva that chuva by the way what did we say a moment ago that's chuva about really putting everything aside and kind of maybe even correcting a bit some of the things and think about the past week he says as shabas is coming in it's a time to to kind of take that in to think about that and to come in to shabas that we can embrace shabas and all of its all of its beauty and a shabas comes to a close we need to do chuva as well now what chuva is that so he says the following that there's a light of chabas that entered us and to do chuva and to raise ourselves with that light of chabas we've just experienced something on chabas that is uplifting we've seen the world in a different way we've loved one another I always talk about seeing one another on chabas that we see each other differently on chabas and to take that with us to take that that purity of chabas it doesn't end right there it doesn't end that now we go back to the week and just kind of go back to everything that we were doing how do we take that that uplift of chabas that spirituality of chabas and now bring it into the week that it impacts us that's what R cook says I don't know if that's you know not an easy thing to do it's maybe it's not natural but it's for cook as a sadic and he's thinking about how do we how do we get the most out of chabas it's not just a standalone day and now now hav you said and it's all over it's not all over right how do we bring chabas into the week so he says that we bring that that cleanliness of chabas the purity of chabas how we've been cleansed through chabas how we've been cleansed and how to bring that how to move forward with that okay R cook yes please doing that's yeah I hear you say the way that he expresses it yes in other words the way that I understand that line or you can look at that his Chiva must be uh must uh how do they translate it here the quality illumination of the chabas say Chua must make that quality clean without any AD mixture I think the way the way that I understand what ruk is saying is that you take that purity of shabus and you don't allow it just to kind of be lost right that it just kind of gets lost in you know in your that's the Bel that doesn't get get get mixed up and lost as the week begins you hold on to that purity of chabas yes let me just the comment the back yeah very nice very yeah absolutely so we see there is that the idea of malava Mala and lighting candles and this idea of bringing chabas of extending chabas of bringing that purity of shabis as R cook is uh is speaking about here into the week into the week yes let just yeah right very good very good yes y very nice very nice and by the way your your point is well taken Chua we think is Chua means for that which we've done wrong for transgression I think he's using the word Chua here to Chua means to uplift and other words yes come back to chabas that we should be uplifted that that sense of chuva not for something that we did wrong the chuva of now taking taking the the beauty of chabas that Purity and bring it into our life yes yeah ah okay that's true very good very good yes yeah yeah absolutely yes yes theid they hold on to shabas La they're not waiting they're not is it over 5:47 we're done no he right as long as you can hold on to chabas the better okay so ruk now quotes in his sitter olat he quotes a mystical Source uh from the cabala that speaks about what elahi does at the end of chabas so this is the top of page three on the left side I have it in the Hebrew and and it's translated as well El this is his comment in this is in the section of havdala many people at the end of chabas they sing why do we do that at the end of chabas so here's one source there are different explanations here's one source because eliahu does something at the end of every chabas and we want to says Rook we want to connect with what elawa Nai does at the end of every chabas so what does he do here top of the page El what does he do sits every he sits he enters the Garden of Eden at the end of every shabas he sits under the tree of life the and he writes down all the merits of the Jewish people that's what elahi does at the end of every chabas he looks at the shabus he looks back at the sh he says wow what an amazing people Amel what they do their observance of chabas and he writes all the merits of Amel and then this is what ruk writes Al therefore any person who has this inclination for the secrets of Torah which is this idea of a of a revealing of whatever level you're on even if it's in your imagination if you feel it intellectually or if you reach high levels after chabas this is what he writes shates every Mo shabas what should every Jew do that every Jew at the end of chabas should follow in the path of elah that you should feel at the end of chabas the greatness of Amel the love for Jews and to count the merits of the Jewish people that's what one should be doing let me just I'll take your comment in a second and let me I just want to read the English here look at the second paragraph This is a translation of the paragraph above with clear intellectual cognition second paragraph he should recognize the sanctity of Israel and its precious stature he should attach himself to the collective holy nation the nation of God and His special inheritance in which the appearance of the Holy Light of every individual is boundless such that even upon the empty ones of Israel the entire world stands one should quiver with holy awe at the sanctity of the lofty Divine soul of every Jew and be filled with longing and eternal desire for the sanctity of the exalted Glory of Israel in general for the success of every individual Jew in all his material and spiritual Pursuits from the depths of his soul he should cry out and exclaim oh happy Israel fortuned are you Israel who is like you a people saved by the Lord and this what you should say every MOS shabas says R cook I love you my people and Nation I desire with all my heart and all my soul with all my warmth I desire with My Soul with all the warmth of my heart I want you with all the fire in my bones I long to see your see your glory your beauty and Splendor when you will be exalted and arise when you will develop your beautiful character when all your qualities and hidden wonders will be actualized okay we'll stop there so what is it that we are to feel at the end of every Jus a love for a love for our fellow Jew our love for our fellow Jew our love for our family for our family members our love for am Isel as a whole that we should feel as chabas comes to a close this is what eliyahu does at the end of chabas and I mentioned before I think one of the things that we feel on chabas that we do not feel in the same way the rest of the week is an attachment to others is a closeness with others and it starts with just the way that we walk on the street and we say shabbat shalom to others we look at others during the week we often look down we don't greet others what's happening on chabas that we're greeting others that we're looking at each other during the week and we're not doing that the rest we're doing that at chabas and we're not doing it during the week and I would say also just you know sitting around a chabas table and the way that we with our own family with our children with our grandchildren with friends and a closeness that we feel with with one another on chabas that we don't somehow feel in the same way the rest of the week and R cook says as you come to the end of chabas what does elah Navi do he speaks about the greatness and the Merit of everyone of every person of every Jew and that we need to feel that's how we should enter the week as well and that's part of the chuva he says speak about the chuva the chuva that we do to enter the week is a chuva of that feeling that I had that closeness that attachment that I had with others on chabas is something that I need to carry over to the weak as well why not greet others that way during the week why not look at others the way that we look at one another on chabas maybe we can't do it in the same way there is something special there is that sanctity of chabas that is that Holiness of chabas but how do we bring some of that that it doesn't end with abdalah we don't we don't want it to end with abdalah how do we bring that fragrance of chabas into the week as well and that's where of cook says we have shamore make sure to to watch to guard the chabas but Z remember the chabas all week long also remember that spirituality bring that spirituality of chabas into the week that's what chabas is about chabas is not a standalone day it's also the six days of the week which shabis yes please yes yes walk yes okay so the question is can we do even when we're all on different and they're busy with our own lives is there a way of opening ourselves up opening our hearts and our souls to one another a little bit more that reflects the chabas and ruk says yes we need to do that's the that's the chuva that we need to do at the of shabas that feeling that uplift of shabas is something that we need to carry with us Beyond shabas yes rosan Friday afternoon the bus stop and cl and Sh you walk in every place and you say hello to everybody in America beting into your car yes okay good yeah I think it is Advantage yes please ah right yes absolutely absolutely yes yes Y is very beautiful that's correct yes yes well I think I think that's true ALS no I think that's another aspect that we could the way that we've been uplifted on Shabbat personally is something that we need there's a lot that we that's that's another discussion or that's part of this discussion is what is it when we speak about that we have chabas and then we have the rest of the week and this idea to bring chabas into the week well what is it that we're bringing into the week so one of the ideas that ruk is highlighting and I'm sharing with you is this idea of of our relationship with others and the openness and the love that we feel for others that we feel on chabas R cook says how do we bring some of that loving nature of chabas that somehow happens it really does happen naturally on chabas there's there's an openness there's like a warmth there's a closeness that we feel on shabas with others that we don't feel in the same way during the rest of the week I I think that I think that's true but how do we do that now there's how do we bring more of that into the chabas let me I wna I want to share I want to share three three stories just to conclude um our discussion about uh about chabas the first story is a story of rev cook 1914 um he um yeah we're done with our sources there was actually one more Source it didn't make it on on your copy but it's fine um 1914 he makes What's called the masua he goes together with a group of rabbis and he wants to visit the new settlements up north which is quite amazing that R cook chooses to do that most rabbis were sitting in their base met she said you know what let's go to them let's meet them where they are and I want to share with them how much I care about them these were the secular kibuts many of them anti-religious and he would spend Shabbat with them so on this trip he had a number of very uh eminent rabbis Rabbi Kap we mentioned that name his home is just a few blocks from here he joined him on that mission on that trip and rabim zanfeld was with him as well Rim zanfeld was he really represented sort of a a different approach a different path than rev cook he was not as open to this idea of rev Cook's loving his loving and and embracing um nature especially for those that we rejecting Judaism we felt that we have to you know make it very clear that they have rejected certain things and we're you know we're we have to make those that havala that you know those demarcations so they were at a kibuts together on chabas and renfeld and R cook R cook had the following minog on Friday night he would put a little bit of his really base on water right he would put water I don't know if we mentioned this story in the past he would put water into his Kish cup so yes so there's a Min and there's a cabalistic minog to do that based on the cabala that the wine even though we think of wine as as joyous but it's red and it represents din it represents judgment or strict judgment so you put a little water in the water represents the uh that it's that it's white that it represents loving kindness so on chabas as you're entering chabas so some of that strictness that we have during the week and the have the demarcation that we that we have and the isol that we have that we bring that whiteness into the redness that's the into the using calistic terminology and that's what he would do every Friday night because what shabas chabas is a time to be a little less you know strict about the way that we the way that we judge one another so that's the drop of water that's placed into the cup so on that Mo shabas and he never did this before that m shabas r cook said I'm going to pour a little bit of water into the cup of abdalah as well now abdalah is a time of Separation right let's be very clear right that we are separate from one another the religious camp the non-religious camp but R cook said no we have to we have to bring chabas into the week even though I've never done this before I'm going to pour some water into the wine because we have to bring that lovingness of chabas and that cooperation that sense of cooperation and kindness we need to bring that into the weak as well and that's what he did on this as he was standing together with all these secular secular Jews which was a statement a very important statement that how do we bring some of that chabas that loving nature character of chabas into the week as well and then Rim zanfeld who usually did not see eye to eye with r cook he also in his cup of abdalah he took some water and he poured it in his well to say okay I'm I'm with you on this one let's find a way that we can bring a greater unity in amrel so that is so we R cook this idea of after chabas and kind to and trying to bring that that loving that warmth of chabas into the week as well so that's one story number two I'll take your comment just at the end Story number two I just want to get to these two more stories there was a great student of R cook his name was the his name was RAV Cohen the Nazir he was known as na Nazir of Yim he followed the laws of nut that he didn't drink talking about wine didn't drink wine he let his hair grow you can look at pictures you can see pictures look up the Nazir of Jerusalem passed away I think 1969 and he he he followed the laws of niru which was really something out of the ordinary because we don't have people being being a nazer and he wanted to live a very very holy life he was a very holy person considered to be one of the greatest students of of rev cuk he compiled the OTA kodesh his classic work so Ru cook would give a Shear this goes back to the to the uh the early 20s 30s he gave a sheer every morning in the bet in his base medish he taught mishos he taught mishna and there was a group mostly the balaba and people in the neighborhood would come and they would study with him mishas every day the Nazir also was in that sheer was in that class he came every morning for some reason the Nazir stopped coming to the sheer he stopped coming to the class in mishna so Ru cook wasn't sure exactly what was happening and he knew that he was a very loyal student why he was not coming to the shear he didn't really want to ask the Nazir himself didn't want to put him on the spot he asked some of the acquaintances and this was the answer that he received said the Nazir stopped coming because that Shear that ruk gave he gave in Yiddish he didn't give Hebrew because the people of the neighborhood at that time going back to the 20s they spoke Yiddish they didn't they weren't really comfortable like us we speaking in English they're in Israel sh but they wanted to hear a sheir in the language that they were comfortable hearing so he gave the sheer yish the Nazir felt that he just could not hear Torah being taught in another language other than Hebrew it was just too it was too difficult for him to hear Torah learning in Yiddish he wanted only to study in Hebrew that he should only hear and he should only speak Hebrew when he's learning Torah when Rook heard about this he said the following Rook said that he's following first of all a something that's found in the midash it's a statement in the which says you don't have this in front of you I'm just reading to you any person who lives in the land of Israel whoes and speaks Hebrew the kma and reads themma every day that person has a very special place in the world to come so that's good for all of us here so if you live in the land of Israel if you speak a little bit Hebrew you don't have to speak it all the time and you speak you speak a little Hebrew and you say the shma you have a very special place in the world to come so R cook said that's with the Nazir the Nazir was mocked he very careful to follow this teaching and he said he's a Bena even not he said even in this world he's he's a person that's kind of living he has he has one one foot in the next world as well he's such a holy person so he's very mid that he only speaks Hebrew so I respect him for that and then Rook said one more thing he said according to some cabalistic traditions and this is based on the AR the Aral that on chabus that on chabus even if you speak Hebrew during the week that I'm sorry if you speak another language during the week that you speak only Hebrew on Shabbat and there are those that follow that custom I know of one Rabbi Wu won the Rashi of isin that he's M just on Shabbat that even though he speaks with his kids and his family and speaks English but on Shabbat he's M only Hebrew and according to some cabalists I think the gr speaks about it as well that on chabas that you only speak Hebrew so R cook said the following R cook said that for the Nazir living in AR Israel for him he feels that every day is shabas every day is shabas outside of the land of Israel you have just shabas on the seventh day but in Israel he feels there is this as we were talking about that he feels this fragrance of chabas that he really senses lives it that every day has chabas and the Nazir is M on chabas because he speaks Hebrew not to speak it all on chabas other than learning Torah and daving and and div Torah but that's it he didn't speak on chab he didn't have he didn't Converse on chabas chabas was just a day for dor fora and and that was it yes yeah so that's the C Shin lamid gimmel if you want to look that up Hau shin lamid giml and one last story yeah let me just get in by the final story and then we'll Shin ladim if you want yeah shim and a final story and this is Riv cook had a um Riv cook had a group of very close students we mentioned the na we have RAB Kap as well RAR lein do you know that name RAR lein the sadic thead he was the sou he was a very very close student of ruk he lived in right by m Yehuda I'm sure many of you are familiar with that they used to call that Mish Isel that neighborhood I don't know if they still call it call it that today I think they call it they call it n today whatever it is so he lived in that area he um again this goes back to the 50s the 60s not that long ago um so he was really he was really hoping that everybody in the neighborhood and the stores the shops the molad that they would all close for chabas he wanted you know he wanted that there should be a chabas atmosphere that stores shouldn't be open again that's still you know an issue in yam and in Israel but at least in that neighborhood he was really hoping and he spoke to the storekeepers and and everybody closed their store except for one storekeeper who did not he wanted to have his store open on chabas Friday night and chabas day yeah who shopped there yeah I guess there were secular people so interesting so the story so one Friday night and he asked him a number of times and he wasn't really interested one Friday night RAR Lin is making his way gets dressed of course for shabas making his way the sh and he passes the Sho and he makes his way to this shop to this store and he comes into the store he says good chabas he says do you mind if I just sit here for a few moments just rest here so the man was very nice and he got him a stool and Rari live in he sat there and here he is sitting there it's 20 minutes it's a half hour it's an hour and this is like as shabas is starting like this is doing is going on in the Sho and Rari Lin is still sitting in the store Ari Lin sees that people are coming into the store that people are buying stuff buying packs of cigarettes whatever it is that they're buying and it's shabis and he sees the number of people that are going in and out of the store so he wishes him good chabas it's about an hour later and uh and that ends that now this fellow the owner of the store is kind of very curious about what just happened here so the next day or after shabas Sunday morning he goes toar lvin and he goes to his house knocks on the door and he says you know if if you don't mind can you tell me what that was all about that you can't chabas you're sitting in my store the first hour of chabas so he said the following he said I was sitting there and I wanted to see myself like what it meant for you to close the store on chabas and RAR Lin said and I see how difficult it would be for you to close this door I see the business that you do Friday night and I'm not going to ask you to close this store I see I I see that it's that it's really you know that you really need you need to keep this store open I respect you you know and that was and they shook hands and that was the end the next Friday night the store was closed and the man said that I saw the respect that Rari lvin had for me and that he was sensitive to my needs and when I saw that and I close the store on Shabbat so that is uh that's a talet of of rev cook and the and the the path of of cook so we should all be Z to uh to experience chabas as a day that's uplifting we should share sh yeah One More Story we'll end with it yeah please